Direction-indicating attachment for automobiles.



F. P. VAN DER VEER.

DIRECTION INDICATING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. I916.

1 ,242,393. Patented Oct. 9, 19?? 2 SHEETS-SHEET l- F. P. VAN DER VEER.

DIRECTION INDICATING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATIOI FILED IAY 2- "l6.

1,242,393. Patented Oct. 9,1917.

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FEBDINAND P. VAN DER VEER. OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

DIRECTION-INDICAT ING AITTACHMIENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application flled'May a, me. set-an m. 94,951.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Fsunmaxn P. Van

Den Vssn, residing atIndianapolis, in the 'county of Marion and State ofIndiana, have invented a new and Improved Direction-hulieatingAttachment; for Antom'obiles, of which the following is a specification.

.\ly invention has for its purpose to provide a simple and economicaland easily manipulated attachment for auto vehicles by whichthe-operator can quickly and accurately indicate the direction in whichit. is intended to turn the vehicle and in which are included signaldevices that are'simnltaneously set to their O)Cl't1i.i\'0 condition toindicate, both at the font and at; the rear of,-thc vehicle, thedirection in which the same is about. to travel.

Another object-0f my invention is to provide an improved attachment toauto vehicles of the character stated, in which is included means foradjust ably mounting the signals so that. they may be readily ositioncdat the front and at the rear 0 the vehicle where they-will not interferewith any attachment, such as tires, oil tanks or other impedimenta whichmay be on the back of the vehicle, or lam s and other attznxhinents suchas are usually found on the front of the vehicle.

\Vith other objects in view that will herc inat'ter be explained, myinvention embodies 'the iecnliar features of construction and novecombination of parts that will be hereinal'ter described, speeificallpointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure. l is a perspective view of my invcntion, the same being shown asoperatively applied to an automobile.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of an auto vehicle bodywith my indicator attachments applied, the indicator members being shownat their normal or neutral position.

Fig. 3 is :1 pers iective view of part of the auto vehicle (last and thecrank actuated shifting lever or cross arm device. hereinafterspecifically referred to.

Fig. 4 is a persfwctive view of the articulntcd bracket members and thesignal arrow attached thereto, the arrow being shown as.

turned to one of its direction indicating positions. 0

Fig. 5 1s a perspective view of a slightly modified form of myinvention, hereinafter referred to, with the main and the supplementalindzcators shown as directing to the right.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the supplemental bracket, hereinafterreferred to.

in carrying out my invention, a duplicate set of indicatin devices areemployed, one set. being provi -d for the front end of the vehicle andthe other set for the-back end, and since the two sets of devices areconstructed and operated alike, a detailed description of one set ofsuch devices will sullice for both.

In the drawings. I have illustrated in detail the indicating devices forthe front end of the motor vehicle and the same comprises a bracket 1that is adapted to be attached to the frame of the automobile, or to anyextension or attachment to such frame .ns the particular formation ofthe frame may make necessary.

Bracket 1 includes an upturned front end 2, that has a segmental guidegroove 3 in which is located a transverse roller 4 that ulines with aroller 5 iendcnt, from the under side. of the body of the bracket 1, thereason for which will presently appear.

6 designates a tubular member that is formed at its lower end with alateral apertnred car 60, provided with radial notches or ratehets (31for co'engaging with similar ratchet 71 on the aperttlred ear 7 formedon the bracket end 2, as shown.

8 designates a clamp screw for holding the member (3 to its ad ustedosition.

0 indicates a supplementr bracket that includes an upertured car 90which cooperates with an apertnrcd car 62 on the upper end of the member(3 and to which it is adjnstably held by a clamp screw 10, the twomembers 90 and 62 having 0 iposi'ig serrated t'aees for etl'ecling thedesirtd tight gripping ot' the two parts. liracket J also includes atubular member ill and an arm 92 which extends upperwardly at an obtuseangle from the member til. and which, at the up )er end. has a Inn-izontul aperture 92' in which is held a pivot screw 3, upon which isrotatablv mounted a hub Jl that is a li.\'ed part of the indicatingarrow 95.

Hy reason of mounting the indieatim arm in the manner deseriluul. thepivota connection ol' the several bracket members and the tubularsections, provides for readily Patented Oct. 9, 1917..

adjusting the arts, when applying the attachment to dil erent cars, tobring the tubular sections in a higher or lower angle as conditions maymake necessar and at the same time always leave the indicating arrowplumb.

To assist in holding the said arrow at its shifted position, a tensionspring 12 is mounted in a socket in the hub 94 and takes around thescrew 93 and engages the arm 92, as is clearly shown in Fig. 6.

A cross arm 13 is mounted on the upper portion 14" of a bolt 14 that isrockablv mounted in the upper end of the front dash 15 and which carriesan o crating crank 16.

17-17 indicate rods tiatextend pendently from the opposite ends of thearm 13 and each of which connects a chain 18, and the said chain passesthrough an opening 18" in the bottom of the auto frame and extends inopposite directions over guide pulleys 19- 19, one of such chainspassing to the rear and the other to the front of the motor vehicle.

The chain 18' that connects to the rod 17 passes to the front of thevehicle, rides on the guide rollers on the front bracket 1, passes upthrough the tubular section'6 over the hub 94 to which it is secured bya 'stud screw 94, from whence it passes down back through the tubularmembers and connects to the lower end of the rod 17, it being understoodthat the chainithat extends to the rear of the vehicle has its returnedend secured to the rod 17, or in other words, one rear and one frontchain connect to the same rod so that in manipulating the operatingcrank the front an rear irection indicating arms are-turned at the sametime in the direction desired.

lhe attachment thus far describcd will rove effective in da light but toprovide ihr the practical application of my invention at ni ht, the samemay be made as shown in igs. 5 and 6 in which a supplemental indicatoris shown that cooperates with the main indicating member, the arrow.

In this modified form, the supplemental indicator, which is in thenature of alamp, has on one face the signal letter R and on the otherface the signal letter L, and the said lamp, which is rotatably mountedon the upper end of 'the arm 92 has a beveled gear 20 that meshes withan annular gear 21 on the hub 94, the ratio of diameters of the saidgears 20-21 being such, that when the imlicatin arrow is shifted todesignate the turn to tie left the lamp is turned to bring its face withl, in view and when the arrow is shifted to designate the turn to theright, the lamp face with R will then be in view and when the indicatingarrow is at neutral, the lamp will show a dark side.

From the foregoin with the drawings, tie complete construetaken inconnection,

tion, the manner'of operation and the adan automobile in such mannerthat the occupant can instantl and plainly indicate to those ahead andbehind the direction that he intends to take when it is desired to makea turn.

My attachment has special utility in cities having strictly enforcedtrafiic regulations but it is also very serviceable wherever traffic iscon csted or where it is desirable to inform at are on the road as wellas those on the sidewalks, the direction of travel which is intended tobe taken.

By reason of providing .an indicator mechanism constructed on the lineshereinbefore described and in which is included a supplemental indicatorsuch as is shown in Fig. 6, the use of such form of indicator willdispense with the ordinary tail light that every motor vehicle musthave, since all four of the sides of the lamps can show a red li ht withthe letters R and L a pearing in white lights on the opposite orirection indi ating sides of the lamp.

The supplemental indicator need not be used on the front of the vehiclesince illumination from the regular lam s of the vehicle front will makethe arrow p ainly visible.

The advantage of using the supplemental indicator on the rear of thevehicle is aparent since the some not alone serves as an. indicator forturning but also as a tail light at night.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. An attachment for motor vehicles, comprising a. bracket securable tothe vehicle frame .to exteud from the end thereof, an arm projected fromthe bracket, the said arm being vertically adjustable relatively to theend of the vehicle, said arm including an outer portion that isvertically adjustable independently of the main portion of the arm, adirection indicator mounted on the said outer portion of the arm, andoperable from the vehicle body for imparting rotation to the saidindicator.

2. An attachment for motor vehicles comprising a bracket securable tothe vehicle to extend from the end thereof, an arm projected from thebracket, the said arm being vertically adjustable relatively to thefront end of the vehicle, a direction indicating member attached to andnaving vertical adjustment on the arm, the said member being rotativelmounted relatively to the arm and arran to be moved in oppositeindicating directions and operable from the vehicle.

prising a bracket adapted for being secured to and projected lengt wisefrom the vehicle body, an arm attached to the said bracket to pro ectvcrticallly over the end of the vehicle said arm inclu ing an adjustablymounted upper portion, an indicating lamp mounted on the upper end ofthe said upper rtion of the arm and horizontally rotatab e with respectto the said upper arm portion, a direction indicator mounted on the saidu per portion of the said arm and vertically rotatable with respect tothe arm, gears that join the direction indicator and the lamp foractuatin the said lamp and indicator in unison, w ereby to turn the lampin the horizontal plane as the indicator turns in the vertical plane,and means operable from the vehicle body for imparting simultaneousreverse rotary motion to the gears and the lamp and the indicatorconnected therewith.

4. An attachment for motor vehicles comprising a bracket ada ted forbeing secured to and projected lengt wise from the vehicle bod an armattached to the said bracket to pro ect vertically over the end of thevehicle,

said arm including an adjustably mounted upper portion; an indicatinglamp mounted on the upper end of the said upper )ortion of the arm sarihorizontally rotatab 0 with respect to the said upper arm portion, adirection indicator mounted on tie said upper rtion of the said arm andvertically rotatable with res t to the arm, gears that join thedirection indicator and the lamp for actuating the said lamp andindicator in unison, whereby to turn the lamp in the horizontal plane asthe indicator turns in the vertical )lanc, and means '.'-perable fromthe vehicle liody for imparting simultaneous reverse rotary motion tothe gears and the lamp and the indicator connected therewith, the saidmeans comprising a rockable lever a hub on one of the gears, a flexiblepull cable whose opposite ends are attached to the opposite en s of therockin the two strands of which are guided on the bracket and the mainand upper arm members and whose loop iortion passes over and is madefast to the a oresaid gear hub.

FERDINAND P. VAN DER VEER.

lever and

